Kijabe Environment Volunteers (KENVO) has worked with rural communities on the Kikuyu Escarpment in Kenya since 1996, with a primary focus on forest conservation and reforestation in response to human pressures on the escarpment’s forests. The organization has evolved beyond this initial focus, however, into a flexible delivery mechanism for donor-funded interventions and a powerful vehicle for holistic local development.

The current range of activities includes selling affordable fuel-efficient stoves to poor farming households; distributing mosquito nets to combat increased incidence of malaria in escarpment communities; encouraging bee-keeping and fish-farming as alternative livelihood activities for farmers; facilitating conflict resolution over water access between local tribes; a comprehensive environmental education program; and developing ecotourism through the creation of an eco-lodge in partnership with a local Maasai tribe.